The loop stitch is normally a simple variation of the sc, in the case of my newest pattern it is a variation of the hdc. 1)Yo, insert your hook into your work just as you would if you were going to do a hdc.

2) Wrap the yarn over your index finger (the one not holding the hook).

3) First hook the right side of the yarn looped over your finger and then the left side, and then draw the yarn through the stitch as you would in a hdc (you should now have four loops on your hook).

4) finish off the stitch as you would a hdc, by hooking the yarn again and drawing it through all loops on your hook.

NEWSI'm very excited to announce that my Stripes and Spaces sock knitting pattern, originally published on the Knit Picks web site, has been published in the 2014 Knitting Pattern a Day Calendar.My birthday is Apirl 24th ... that is coincidently also the day where they placed my sock pattern !!

A GIANT box of free yarn !!! The free yarn is one of the things I love about the Knit Picks Independnat Designer Program, the free yarn. here are the steps, think of a design, submit a proposal, receive their email citing interest, request yarn, receive yarn, open giant box and knit, knit, knit, or in this case crochet, crochet, crochet.So first I did this ....

Next I did these ...

I have 10 to do in total, plus the patterns, so no taking any breaks yet !!

I have a new pattern due our super soon !!It's called "the Classic Textured Tunic". It features a modified linen stitch. Therefore I thought I'd blog a bit about the stitch.When I first decided to do the tunic pattern, I was looking for a stitch that would be haevy enough to drape the way I wanted the tunic to drape. I skimmed through some stitch dictionnaries and googled a bit, and decided on the linen stitch. It's a stitch done which is supposed to resemble the linen woven material. The thing was, I found a number of different renditions of it some had stitches slipped every row, and some every other row; some had a knit row to interrupt, others had a purl row.

Basically, I found this out:

This is the linen stitch:R1) k1, *(sl1 wyif, k1)* repeat from * to end of rowR2) k1, p1, *(sl1 wyib, p1), repeat from * until one st remains, k1This is the 1/2 linen stitch:R1) k1, *(sl1 wyif, k1)* repeat from * to end of rowR2) purl rowR3) k1, p1, *(sl1 wyib, p1), repeat from * until one st remains, k1R4) purl row

This is the double linen stitch;R1) k1, *(sl2 wyif, k2)* repeat from * to end of rowR2) purl rowR3) k1, p1, *(sl2 wyib, p2), repeat from * until one st remains, k1R4) purl rowThe common characteristicto the above linen stitch patterns is a 'bar'. I was after something slight;y different, and I prefer to knit a row than to purl one. So I decided on a modified 1/2 linen stitch. It looks like this:

Stay tuned for the pattern !!!

It's going to be on my site, on ravelry AND part of the Knit Picks IDP program !! (this (i.e. KP) will make it easier easy to order the pattern as well as the correct amount and weigh of yarn at the same time)

I wasn't quite sure how I should start the whole website / blog thing so I decided to go with weeble, something I had tried a long time ago (before blogging was so popular, actually). Anyway got the website going, the blog all set up .... and now I find out that the weebly blog does not work quite like other blogs.I can't tell :How many follwers I have, or even if I have any for that matter.and setting up all those cool links people have at the side, isn't an easy option either.So I've been reading up on Blogger and wordpress ... but I'm not sure if I can actually get a website out of those, how annoying though, more reasearch required I guess. Godd to know knot though before the launch of "the Republic of Kingston Organics"

A review of the Yarn U app for iPhone, available at the apple iTunes store for $2.99I installed the app, read the instructions and was ready to go.

The first thing that popped up was a list of yarns and miliage, hmmm I thought, milage .... the furthest yarn away was 2,971mi, and the closest was 243 mi. Now before you think I live in the middle of no-where, I don't really, I just happen to be in Canada, and obviously this app is geared towards American residents.Just to make sure I loaded maps, I was the big blue dot in Canada, the yarns were little markers peppered all over the US, no markers to join me at all, in Canada :(, thank good ness for online shopping.The location feature I'm not sure about, obviously it's just set up for the US. The app lists a yarn and pins it's location, for me, here in Canada I can get a lot of the yarn online, and as well some of the yarn listed as 300 mi away is actually here at my LYS.

This app is another reason why I miss living in San Francisco. So many awesome things designed for living in the States.Moving on from my geography issues (which of course haunt most Canadians ....)

The app was really great.There are hundreds of yarn choices, they're listed, pictured, described, reviewed and projects for them are recommended. Definately a great yarn shopping companion. I also love that it's not all obsure yarn in the app, many of the yarns I use myself regularily, so I find the content to be really useful.

It is also great that that you can find the yarn, favourite it, make a comment about it and then email the yarn to share your choice with someone else. This way when I'm out buying yarn for hubby's socks (or sweater), I can email him the yarn I've found and get his opinion.Another super useful feature is the app's ability to store a lot of information and provide access to it offline. This is great if you're not in a 4G location or if you don't want to use us your data time with items you've already accessed.Definately an app I'll be using for a while !!PS - Yarn U has a facebook page, you can go there as well to find out more

I'm really loving discovering all of the things one can do with crochet. I've been knitting piles so was used to that, but man with a crochet hook, the sky is the limit. As you have probably noticed, I have become a bit obsessed with animal hats (I've now started some monsters too)I've been doing circles, ovals, triangles and recently the cone. They're all standard shapes, and so far I've been sticking to the four basic stitches: the single crochet (sc) , the double crochet (dc), the half double (hdc), and the triple crochet (tr). You would think then that these shapes would be basic too, but there seems to be a hundred differnt ways to do each.The oval for example. I initially tought of it as a flattened circle. For a circle"ch3, (dc in 2nd from hook) 8 times, join, ch2R1) (2dc in each st), repeat to end of rndR2) (2dc in first st, dc in next st), repeat to end of rndSo I thought ...For an oval,ch 3, (sc, hdc, dc, tr, dc, hdc,sc, hcd, dc, tr, dc, hdc,dc) join, ch2R1) 2sc in first st, 2 hdc in next st, 2 dc in next st .... and so onBut then I found a lot of people think of it as a fat line / chain, so they do:ch 8, and then go around and aound it in a circle.Strange, but we both get the oval !!My favorite shape thouh has to be the cone, I used it to make the little horms on my monster hat (still being test knit)

I mailed my sweater sample and pattern to Knitpicks.com right in the middle of the Christmas rush, so I'm surprized that they received it as fast as they did. I received an email earlier this week to say that my sweater was in (i.e. accepted into their IDP program) and that it would be online in a few weeks .... imagine how surprized I was to see that it went live today !!Here it is in Knitpicks Blue/beige and again kniw using Lamb's Pride, in a rainbow of colors for Matthew. Matthew likes to be an individual, no plain colors for him.

This is my very first gievaway ever, so bear with me ....It will run from now until next weekend (January 13th, 2013) at midnight.To give away is my finished crocheted sample of my lion hat ($40 value), as well as a pdf copy of the pattern ($3.99 value). The sample's size is large. The dimension of my large hat is: 9.5 * 7.5" (24 * 19cm). This sample, as well as all of my other samples, is done in 100% natural fibre (wool in this case).Free shipping only to Canada and the US.How to enter. Like my facebook page (www.facebook.com/impassionedyarn), share the contest facebook post and then comment on my blog which you prefer knitting or crocheting. (Current facebook likers only have to share the giveaway post and post to my blog to be entered)If you don't use facebook, simply post to the blog stating that FB is not for you and I'll enter you into the giveaway as well.I will be using rafflecopter to determine the winner.I think that should be it. Please contact me with any questions.Good luck to everyone !!

Had a day of basketball planned, the 23rd Annual Kean Basketball Tournament, but ... got snowed in. What to do? Why, another animal hat of course !!!This little guy is a horse. Sample is done, pattern is almost written, testing should start tommow.All the shovelling we did yesterday, is completely buried, can't tell the driveway was ever cleared. The weather report says we got 30cm of snow, but with the blowing winds we have drifts much deeper than that.Three days of holidays left, then back to work.

Here's the lion hat I created two days ago ... the pattern for this is almost ready to be released.